Leaders of Al-Oqilat

By God, the camels' appointed time has come; / The promise has appeared from men of noble renown. / From the sons of Ali came a gift that confounded their foes, / A gift for the steadfast and resolute horseman. / Their custom in battle is to overwhelm their adversaries; / At every encounter, their swords leave wounds upon faces. / Alas, my eyes resist the sleep of noble men; / How many my thoughts, and how little my sleep.

— Hujailan bin Hamad Al Abu Aliyan, an emir of the Al-Oqilat, became Emir of Buraidah in 1190 AH. — Muhammad bin Ali Al-Arfaj Al Abu Aliyan, an Al-Oqilat emir, knight, and poet, became Emir of Buraidah in 1243 AH. — Muhammad bin Abdullah Al-Bassam was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. On one westward journey, he led one hundred herds, each consisting of one hundred camels. Muhammad Al-Abdullah Al-Bassam was renowned for generosity, and his reputation reached rulers. During the rule of Muhammad Al-Abdullah Al-Rashid, Al-Bassam passed through Hail and came to greet him. In his gathering, Ibn Rashid teased him, saying: ‘Muhammad, with all your generosity and gifts, are you seeking to rule?’ He replied: ‘Your Highness, ruling requires people suited to it. I am a merchant seeking profit. When my trade earns twenty percent, we give some of God's bounty to the people. That is our profit from trade. We seek no rule—only a good name for our country and its reputation.’ — Muhammad bin Ali Al-Shoubahi was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Muhanna bin Saleh Aba Al-Khail, an emir of the Al-Oqilat, became Emir of Buraidah in 1280 AH. — Saleh bin Hassan Aba Al-Khail was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Muhammad bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Rawaf was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Abdulrahman bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Rawaf was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Ibrahim bin Muhammad Al-Rawaf was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Fawzan Al-Sabiq, an emir of the Al-Oqilat, served as representative of the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Sultanate of Najd in Egypt. Fawzan Al-Sabiq is regarded as one of King Abdulaziz's loyal men and trusted representatives. Their relationship dated to Sultan Abdulaziz's recapture of Riyadh in 1319 AH / 1902. He joined him in the Battle of Jarrab in 1333 AH. As one of the camel and horse merchants in the Levant, Iraq, and Egypt known as the Al-Oqilat, he was chosen by the Sultan of Najd as his representative for the Levant. In 1344 AH / 1925, King Abdulaziz authorized him to move from the Levant to Egypt as his representative under the title ‘Agency of the Kingdom of the Hejaz and Sultanate of Najd.’ — Isa Al-Rumaih was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat and their authority in Arab countries. Whenever he set out at the head of a caravan, regardless of its size, the caller would announce: ‘Hear this, O Aqeel!’ No one was permitted to light a fire, because the mudif—the communal guest tent—was open to the Al-Oqilat and the men of their generation. The Al-Oqilat were accustomed never to disobey an order approved by Isa Al-Rumaih. — Mansour Al-Rumaih, one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat, stood with King Abdulaziz, the hero of the Arabian Peninsula, on notable occasions. — Sulaiman Al-Rumaih was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Mansour bin Sulaiman Al-Jarboa, an emir of the Al-Oqilat born in 1291 AH, had a distinguished record of generosity and memorable deeds. — Ibrahim bin Sulaiman Al-Jarboa was a well-known emir of the Al-Oqilat, proverbial for his knowledge of routes, water sites, and wells. One account relates that he flew from Riyadh aboard a Dakota aircraft. When the pilot's navigation instrument malfunctioned and he lost the route, Sheikh Ibrahim directed him to the correct course. The captain remarked: ‘You have a sound and remarkable mind.’ — Muhammad bin Abdulrahman bin Yahya Al-Shuraidah was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. May God have mercy on him: he was generous and compassionate, wished for others what he wished for himself, upheld justice even against himself, and valued benevolent intercession. One story tells that the men of the Emir of Al-Qassim at the time, Abdullah bin Jiluwi, may God have mercy on him, returned from the desert with a hare they had captured alive for his young son. When the hare began crying out in the Emir's gathering, he said: ‘Hide it before Muhammad Al-Shuraidah comes and intercedes for it to be returned to the desert!’ Muhammad often interceded with him on behalf of others. He was killed in the Battle of Jarrab in 1333 AH, fought between King Abdulaziz, may God have mercy on him, and the Emir of Hail, Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Rashid. — Fahd bin Abdulrahman bin Yahya Al-Shuraidah was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. May God have mercy on him; for five years he led the pilgrims traveling from Al-Qassim to the Sacred House of God. — Saleh Al-Sulaiman Al-Mutawa was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Ibrahim bin Ali Al-Rashoudi was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. May God have mercy on him; he was known for courage and sound judgment. In 1330 AH, the Al-Oqilat appointed him as their emir after they had bought approximately eighty herds of camels, as the Al-Oqilat man Ibrahim Al-Musallam recorded in his book. — Hamoud Al-Nujaidi was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Muhammad bin Abdulaziz Al-Rabdi was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Sulaiman Al-Nujaidi was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Ibrahim bin Abdulrahman Al-Shuraidah was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Yahya bin Abdulrahman Al-Shuraidah, one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat, established a sanatorium in Baghdad. — Hamoud Al-Barrak was a well-known emir of the Al-Oqilat. In 1340 AH, an epidemic in the Levant afflicted many people, including eighty Al-Oqilat men. Concerned for them, Hamoud went to a carpenter and asked him to make forty covered camel-litter frames. Once the carpenter had finished them, Hamoud bought fifty mats, placed the litters on forty of them, carried every two patients on a camel, loaded the remaining camels with provisions and food, and took the sick men from the Levant toward their homeland while providing for them. Once they reached the desert and encountered its wholesome air, God lifted the epidemic from them and all recovered. They then burned the litter frames, mounted the camels, and returned home grateful to Hamoud for his generosity. — Hamoud Al-Nujaidi was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Mansour bin Abdulrahman Al-Shuraidah was one of the emirs of the Al-Oqilat. — Saleh bin Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Hulaisi was one of the valiant emirs of the Al-Oqilat.

Compiled and prepared by Abdullatif bin Saleh Al-Wuhaibi